7 things I could do with my life if I wasn’t blogging

I’ve been getting a bit overwhelmed with blogging recently.

It’s no secret among bloggers that it pretty much takes over your life. Until you seriously begin blogging, you have no idea of the work involved. There’s post writing, image taking, heaps of editing, and scheduling. Then of course there are all the social media channels to maintain and update multiple times a day. You have blog post promotion to do. Oh, and let’s not forget guest post writing, learning, reading other blog posts, commenting and joining threads. The list goes on.

Blogging truly is never-ending

Which is why I’ve been stumbling lately. Sometimes I’m super-duper on it and can almost keep up with the crazy list of to-dos (trust me, there will never be a moment when it’s all completed). But then I have days or weeks like right now where I think of all the millions of things I need to do, get completely overwhelmed and go eat or nap instead. So nothing gets done. And I feel like I’ve failed.

My lovely little blog is 5 months old now, and I am so proud of where it is already. I look at the top bloggers earning their stripes with awards and accolades and I still have optimism that it could be me one day. I’m no-where near ready to give up. But sometimes I’m just a little exhausted by the relentlessness of it and wonder if I’ll ever find a balance.

So in the spirit of being completely honest with myself, here are the 7 things I could actually do with my life if I hadn’t been bitten by the blogging bug:

Keep my house clean and tidy

I’ve often had to prioritise post-writing or blog commenting over tidying up and cleaning, and although I’m not usually a domestic goddess anyway, the house has certainly suffered. Throw in a 6 month old baby and you can imagine how little time I actually get to sort anything out – meaning often things can get a little grubby before I have a cleaning meltdown and attack the whole house.

Become supermodel slim

It could happen – you can do anything you put your mind to, right? Except it won’t happen because my mind needs to be focused on writing and my backside needs to be in a chair. If I didn’t blog, I’d join a gym and actually spend some time thinking up meals and cooking properly. At least, I think I would. I do try and workout or go to a gym (pay-as-you-go love) but fitting it around everything else is a real pain.

Save money

A lot of people start blogs to make money, but let me tell you, it can be pretty expensive. If you want to do it right of course. There’s web hosting, premium blog themes, social media scheduling tools, logos, stock photos and in my case, office supplies to purchase. Many of these also have free options which I use where I can, but ultimately, some expenditure is going to occur. And although I’ve made a little money, it’s no-where near recovering the cost just yet! Technically, this isn’t great while on maternity leave, but I’m happy to part with my money for my passion.

Binge-watch Netflix

This is an activity that I started off doing when I went on maternity leave. Fast-forward to the day I set up my blog, and I have to sneak in a single episode of my favourite shows when the responsible me isn’t looking. Binge-watching is a thing of the past when there’s work to be done.

Play with my baby

OK, I don’t spend the day ignoring my daughter, but I do find myself frequently checking emails and social media during playtime. It’s an auto-pilot thing every time my phone vibrates. I’ve taken to leaving it upstairs while we play so that I’m not distracted. The minute she naps, it’s straight back out to catch up on what I’ve missed. Down-time is a luxury.

Go on amazing days out

In my head, if I wasn’t blogging, I’d be free everyday to go gallivanting around with Moo to all sorts of exciting places. If I didn’t have to knuckle down and sort out my life every time she napped, we’d be off on adventures daily. The truth is, I do spend most of my week out of the house – but with family in the local area. We actually do plenty of exciting things, I’m just too busy writing blog posts in my head to realise it.

Nap

I seem to still manage this one accidentally. But it comes with a whole heap of blog-guilt. I should have been working on posts or scheduling some tweets. Napping freely, in peace, whenever my daughter fancies joining me would be the ultimate maternity leave goal, but there is simply no time. There are barely enough hours in the day as it is, sleeping at random intervals does not help this in any way.

But of course, there are some wonderful flip-sides to this slightly bleak outlook on my life without blogging.

If I didn’t have Muffin top mummy, I wouldn’t:

Have found a passion that I absolutely love

Be able to not feel bored and lonely when I can’t get out of the house

Have the confidence to break into freelance writing

Meet amazing people – both the blogging community and readers (hi you lovely lot!)

Discover and read lots of fantastic content on other blogs

Have learnt a completely new set of skills

Earn a few lovely little bonuses through product reviews and sponsored content

So there’s the balance. Like everything in life, blogging is a little bit of give and a little bit of take. And although I’m certainly finding that it’s taking a lot more than I ever thought possible right now, I’m hoping that the give will be extraordinary when it finally all starts paying off.

How do you balance life and blogging (or whatever it is that you’re into)? Please give me any hints and tips you have in the comments below!

25 Comments

I’m so with you on all this. I’m guessing there is some kind of ‘newbie hump’ that we need to get ourselves over 😂 This week has been mental for me, I usually write one post a week but I’ve got a backlog of posts that need written at the moment so I really need to up my game 🙈 especially seeing as the 6weeks school holidays are fast approaching, I literally don’t know what i’m gonna do then 😞 x

Oh yes! I’m finding it hard enough with a baby that can’t yet move anywhere – any older and I don’t envy you with all the catching up to be done. Someone please say it’s a ‘newbie hump’ and suddenly it’ll all be a breeze for us!? C

I agree with you, such a great post. The other day I had a busy couple of weeks of freelance work which meant no blogging. As I sat on the sofa watching trash TV, rather then blogging, I thought about how much fun it was until I got bored very quickly, and recognised how much I love this creative outlet of blogging. Yvadney x #DreamTeam

It’s definitely about balance! I think we all go through phases of letting it dominate our lives. Then we crash and burn for a bit when we need a break. Eventually after doing that enough times, you might find a more natural balance. I’ve been through this recently and have since stopped scheduling posts twice a week as I had done for 6 months. Now I’m back to writing when I want to and trying to do a bit more of the other stuff! Although I do need to exercise more… #CoolMumClub

I like this idea – writing when you want rather than being gripped by the fear that you haven’t posted at your set times! I think I need to go with the flow more and enjoy it for what it is. Thank you for such an insightful and helpful comment!!

This reminds me of exactly how I felt 6 months or so in. I think you go hard to begin with then find a pace that works for you – I now only blog in the evenings, and always take Friday and Saturday night off…it works for me to enjoy my days with the littles then blog guilt free when they’re in bed! The bigger they get the less happy they are about that laptop being out…
Good luck – you’ll find the right balance for you.

Don’t be so hard on yourself Lucy! You’re doing so well with the blog AND being Mum. There’s no harm in taking a few days off from blogging and social media to spend time with friends and family, though I would miss you on Instagram 😉 #coolmumclub

Im back again! Loved the bit about the grubby house and being superslim! I always think i must have been super calm person before i started to blog. Yeah right!!
Great read the 2nd time too x
#thelistlinky

It is really tough, and I thinkthat’s why a lot of people don’t stick at it. I’m a year in and still have a love-hate relationship with it sometimes, but not as much as I did this time last year when I’d been going a few months. I now slow down if I feel overwhelmed, and remind myself that there’s more to life (is there?!). You’re obviously doing really well, I hope you continue. #TheListLinky

This is so true. My blog is almost a year old now and it has completely taken over my life. I often think how much easier it would be if I stopped; I could go back to binge watching csi for a start. But at the same time I have finally found something that I am truly passionate about (other than my husband and children obviously) and the thought of stopping brings me out in hives x
#Coolmumclub

Yep I can totally relate to this – a small part of me thinks ‘well why don’t you just stop?’ But I’ve put so much time, effort and love in that I would be so disappointed! Ahh can’t believe you’re almost a year 😊 x

Hi there, my name is Lucy and I live with my husband and baby daughter in the Midlands. Muffin top mummy is where I share all my sensible thoughts on the joys of parenting and the celebration of love-handles.
info@muffintopmummy.com